Future-proofing graduate employability with skills-focused learning
Oman’s Modern College of Business and Science is foregrounding employability as it provides a collaborative and practical learning experience that prepares students for the fast-changing labour market of Industry 4.0
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Change is one of the few constants in the 21st-century workplace. Animated by the revolutionary power of AI, the Fourth Industrial Revolution has brought an age of disruption, where jobs are being automated and others created in their place. To prepare students for such a future, higher education must go beyond traditional models and embrace innovation, agility and forward-thinking pedagogy. The curriculum at Modern College of Business and Science (MCBS) in Oman is augmented by initiatives to help students gain job-relevant skills and a comprehensive understanding of subjects.
Saurav Negi, assistant professor of logistics and supply chain management and head of the Transportation, Logistics and Safety Management section at MCBS, says flexibility, resilience and adaptability are qualities universities must adopt to evolve their programmes and keep pace with technological trends. “We have to be agile and mould ourselves to the changing scenarios,” says Negi.
MCBS runs several events to bring students from different disciplines together to work on projects that help them develop crucial skills. “It is very important to have collaborative teaching models,” says Negi. “We conducted a hackathon focused on the aviation supply chain, transportation and logistics recently, where students proposed diverse projects and innovative solutions.”
Society’s complex problems require interdisciplinary research perspectives to deliver real-world results. Negi says that cross-disciplinary learning can better equip students for the workplace where they might need to combine technical competencies with soft skills.
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 forecasts a growing demand for technological skills. However, soft skills, such as analytical thinking, resilience, flexibility, leadership and creativity, remain among the top skills valued by employers, the report suggests. “Our duty as a higher education institution is to impart these skills to our students,” says Negi.
In the age of AI, graduates must be digitally literate. Negi argues that not everyone needs an in-depth understanding of machine learning, but they should be familiar with the fundamentals. “Employers are not expecting advanced technological skills but basic digital literacy,” he says. “How we can use AI ethically is an important skill. The ability to use modern applications is part of digital literacy.”
Students learn best through practical experiences. At MCBS, those who are enrolled in domain-specific programmes such as transport and logistics management, aviation management and health and safety management participate in hands-on projects. “You cannot gain complete knowledge from books or theories alone in this rapidly changing era,” says Negi. Internships and work-based learning experiences offer students an opportunity to put their knowledge into practice, learn how to solve problems in the real world and develop the skills that employers are looking for.